A brief introduction: My name is Paul Howley, owner of the Eisner Award- winning pop culture collector’s store known as “ That’s Entertainment ” in Worcester, Massachusetts. My store has been around for over twenty-nine years. It’s been an interesting combination of events and people that have brought my store to its current place. It is not my intent to boast or brag about my store or my life…I just want to tell you my story.

Friday, January 18, 2013

My Life With Comic Books: Part # 188

A brief introduction:

My name is Paul Howley, owner of the Eisner Award winning
pop culture collector’s store known as “That’s Entertainment” in Worcester, Massachusetts
and a second store in Fitchburg,
Massachusetts. Some people have
called me the “luckiest man in the comic book business.” (I’m not) My stores
have been around for over thirty years and it’s been a long and interesting
combination of events and people that have brought these stores to this current
place. It is not my intent to boast or brag about my store or my life. I just
want to tell you my story. In many instances, my wife remembers things a little
differently, but this is the truth as I remember it.

The current cast of characters:

Paul Howley: age 46

Mal Howley: age 47

Adam Howley: my son, age 21

Cassy Howley: my daughter, age 17

MY LIFE WITH COMIC BOOKS: THE HISTORY OF A COMIC SHOP-Part
188

As the summer of
2001 ended, many of our friends helped us get our cottage more livable by
ripping off old wallpaper, tearing up rugs and lots of general cleaning. The
elderly man who owned it before us had done some “repair” work himself but it
was done very poorly. He had an actual lamp fastened to the wall inside the
shower and odd burned-out electrical outlets in odd places around the house.
I’m not “handy” with tools at all so I’d need to hire carpenters, electricians,
and plumbers to fix this place up. Even though we only lived about twenty
minutes away from our cottage, we wanted it to be a pleasant place to stay. The
location was certainly beautiful with a nice view of the sandy beach from our
living room window.

Shortly after
Cassandra’s final year of high school began, Mal and I organized an important
informational meeting for Cassy’s classmates so we could give them all of the
final details about the Caribbean cruise we had been planning for the past
three years. We invited the student’s parents to come if they had any questions
or concerns. We detailed the entire class trip, explaining the various
transportation modes, the types of food and entertainment the cruise ship would
offer, the approximate amount of extra spending money the student should
consider bringing, and the various activities that would not be allowed
(drinking and gambling). We had recruited sufficient chaperones (we had many
volunteers!) but we stressed how important it would be to observe our behavior
guidelines. When our presentation was done, we asked if there were any
questions. The students had a few and several expressed their excitement about
this trip. Before we concluded, we asked the parents if they had any questions.
One Mom and Dad said they weren’t sure a trip like this would be enjoyed by
their daughter but they were going to leave it up to her to decide. Another Mom
and Dad said that they thought this trip was far too extravagant. They
explained that they never even went on family vacations because it was too
expensive. I tried to reason with them, explaining that the trip was actually
quite inexpensive and that we had fund-raising efforts that would lower the
burden for the students. They still objected. The last set of parents thought
that the money shouldn’t be spent on a class trip. They said that we should
give the money to the teachers at the school or donate it to the needy. I tried
to convince them that while I agree that those would be good things to do,
that’s not what this is about. I asked them,“Why did you wait until now to
discuss this after the class has been planning this for a full three years?”
They replied, “We never thought this would actually happen. Other classes had
big plans before and they never came together.”

“Arrrggghhh! Are
you kidding me?!” That’s what I wanted to say…but I didn’t.